The Tobacco Industry Should Have A Health Care Insurance Plan For Their Loyal Customers We still believe there should be a Tobacco Accountability Act for Americans where the tobacco industry should be held accountable to the very people their product has addicted and afflicted. They caused the health problems and they should pay for it. It would have a stated purpose, “the tobacco industry will be held accountable for the tobacco-related diseases and will provide early screening, a health insurance benefits program and/or premium assistance for every smoker (man, woman, boy or girl) afflicted with a tobacco-related disease. They will subsidize all educational programs from elementary to college on the harmful effects of their products through smoking firsthand or secondhand smoke.” This is the only way the government, states and companies can keep their health care costs down for Americans with tobacco-related illnesses with the passing of The Tobacco Accountability Act for Americans. Otherwise, these health care costs will exacerbate the government, states and companies budgets especially when different parties in this country are calling to cut benefits to people receiving Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security benefits and not raise taxes to reduce our deficit. Some has gone as far as having the courts determine the current health care plan unconstitutional. Will the courts in their pursuit for justice, have the courage to help set a precedent and look at an industry that has been shielded all these years, as people become hooked on this drug? We fight to keep the drug cartel from infiltrating our country with illegal drugs, but yet we make excuses for an industry that has killed millions of Americans for the sake of the dollar for years. As we wrestle with every aspect of this health care reform initiative in America some will ask, what does The Tobacco Accountability Act for Americans have to do with this? Everything! The cost factors to keep Americans with pre-existing tobacco-related diseases will bankrupt any health care reform initiative without the tobacco industry subsidy. Everyone knows this. They have targeted customers, some in bondage for life. The tobacco industry should have a health insurance benefits program for their “loyal” customers. The only way we can address this pending health care crisis in America is to implement The Tobacco Accountability Act for Americans and the message Smoking Can Kill You on cigarette packaging and advertisements. Otherwise, we are doing a disservice to the sanctity of life and allowing the tobacco industry to continue to manipulate the truth about its product. We are kidding ourselves when we do not address the magnitude of this habit and the health care costs to families. This is the only product on the market that when it is used as intended destroys a life and families. It kills. One thing is certain: cigarettes snuff out life at an alarming rate. Half of all long-term smokers will die a tobacco-related death. Below are some additional facts to consider: Health Council.Org/Break Free Alliance Facts Across the board, the greatest single predictor of tobacco use is low socioeconomic status (SES). According to the Surgeon General:  Individuals with less than 12 years of education and income at or below the federal poverty guidelines have higher smoking rates.  Education levels and income may directly affect the health status of individuals.  Poor racial and ethnic communities bear the heaviest health burden related to tobacco use.  Socioeconomic characteristics are powerful determinants of health. Tobacco and Poverty  In 2003, Whites accounted for .44.3% of all poor, although they composed 67.6% of the U.S. population  Thus, most poor people in the U.S. are minorities. Who Are The Poor Smokers?  Poverty o Income (fall below a $ threshold) o Gender (female headed households) o Race/Ethnicity (black, white, etc) o Education (less than high school) o Marital status (widows) o Labor force status (unemployed, discouraged) o Health status (poor health) High Smoking Prevalence  Prisoners  The Homeless  Mentally Ill  Individuals in Alcohol/Drug Treatment  Persons with Disabilities Centers for Disease Control and Prevention These are additional facts:  Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year.  Current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.  In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for about one in five deaths annually, or about 443,000 deaths per year  Annually, cigarette smoking costs more than $193 billion ($97 billion in loss productivity and $96 billion in health care expenditures).  Health care costs associated with exposure to secondhand smoke average $10 billion annually.  In 2005, the latest year with available data, the cigarette industry spent almost $13.4 billion, or more than $36 million per day, on advertising and promotional expenses.  In the United States, 20% of high school students are current cigarette smokers.  Each day, about 1,100 persons younger than 18 years of age become regular smokers; that is, they begin smoking on a daily basis.  Among adult smokers, 70% report that they want to quit completely, and more than 40% try to quit each year.  Tobacco is a risk factor for six of the eight leading causes of death in the world.  As reported in the Charlotte Observer, “we have 43.3 million smokers in America.”  As well as, “it costs the Defense Department more than $1.6 billion a year in medical care and lost work days, while the Veterans Administration spends more than $5 billion to treat veterans for tobacco-related illnesses.”  The Center for Immigration Studies estimated costs to cover all uninsured illegal immigrants would be $30.5 billion annually and at emergency rooms/free clinics $4.3 billion. Jet Magazine According to the August 2011 edition:  “Smokers of menthol cigarettes could one day have their habit extinguished by the Food and Drug Administration. The agency is evaluating recommendations from an advisory panel that might lend to a ban of the smokes the only remaining flavored cigarettes in the market.  This would bring major changes to the habits of African-Americans, nearly 80 percent of who smoke menthol cigarettes.  The top menthol brands are: Newport – No 1 menthol market and among Blacks (51% of buyers) Generating 5B yearly. Marlboro Menthol – holds 18% of menthol market Camel Menthol – Maker holds 8% of overall cigarette market. Kool – Third largest menthol brand. Salem – 18% if makers of menthol sales are to Blacks. Other Facts  The American Cancer Society estimated in 2002 65,700 women would die from lung cancer compared to 39,600 women who would die from breast cancer.  Cigarette smoking causes lung and other cancers emphysema and heart disease. More than 0,000 deaths each year are caused by cigarette smoking. But smoking also affects nearly every other organ system and disease in a negative way.  The Environmental Protection Agency has listed passive cigarette smoke also known as second-hand smoke as a carcinogen and has determined that it causes 3,000 cases of lung cancer every year.  Nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction. Smoking is the major cause of stroke and the third, leading cause of death in the United States.  A number of studies have shown that women find it more difficult than do men to quit smoking cigarettes.  Nearly 90% of lung cancer cases are smoking related. 23 million female smokers, the news keep getting worse.  Researchers are finding that the effects of tobacco seem to be far more damaging to women than to men. Last year, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh discovered that a gene that accelerates lung cancer growth is more active in females, even when they smoke fewer cigarettes over a shorter period of time than men. These are some of additional facts according to published reports:  12,000 women die of COPD every year and this year it is likely to overtake breast cancer to become the forth biggest cause of death of women, Nine out of ten cases of COPD are related to smoking. Whereas the number of men smoking has leveled out, it is increasing steadily in women little surprise; therefore that the prevalence of COPD is growing nearly three times faster in women (UK).  COPD is the forth leading cause of death in the United States. COPD is a lung condition that makes it more and more difficult to breathe. Both chronic bronchitis and emphysema are considered part of COPD.  Tobacco smoke causes approximately 80% to 90% of all cases of COPD. In fact, a smoker is 10 times more likely to die of COPD than a nonsmoker.  Experts believe that about 10 million Americans have been diagnosed with COPD.  Few women realize that if they are smokers, they are more likely to develop chronic bronchitis and emphysema than male smokers. Once developed, it is likely to be worse than for men because women’s pulmonary tissues are more sensitive and women won’t have to smoke cigarettes for as long as before developing COPD’s classic symptoms of breathlessness chest tightness, cough, wheezing and tiredness. (This is what my mother suffered with.)  According to the American Diabetes Foundation, people who smoke are nearly three times likely develop diabetes as those who have never smoked.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women in the United States. Cigarette smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer and approximately 22 million women in the United States smoke. Between 1930 and 1997 the number of lung cancer deaths in women in the United States has increased by 600%. Most of the deaths can be attributed to any increase in cigarette smoking in women  While more men than women still get the disease (more men smoke). , the figures for women are alarming. Since 1950, according to a 2001 U.S. Surgeon General report, lung cancer mortality rates in women soared 600%. A phenomenon the U.S. Surgeon labels full-blown epidemic.  An estimated 20% of adult U.S. women aged 18 years or older (more than one of five) are currently cigarette smokers. Nearly 10% of them want to quit, but they need help. Many years ago, glamorized advertising linked women’s liberation with smoking, such as “You’ve come a long way Baby.” “Times have changed for the better and it’s time for us women to take more control of our lives,” says Linda Sevedin, Executive Director of Smoke Free Society.  More Hispanic women are smoking cigarettes in the United States than they do in their native counties, most likely due to cultural influences. Similar smoking increases are not seen in Hispanic men according to new systemic review of studies.” December 2009 A seed for America.